AFTER SUFFERING MAJOR SETBACK AT ICJ IN JADHAV DEATH PENALTY CASE, PAKISTAN REPLACED LAWYER:

After suffering a major setback at the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav death penalty case, Pakistan is set to replace the lawyers that represented the country at the World Court, Pakistani media reports said. Sartaj Aziz, the foreign affairs adviser to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was quoted by The Nation as saying that Islamabad will appoint a new team of lawyers to defend Pakistan’s position at the The Hague, Netherlands-based International Court of Justice. The Pakistani legal team was led by Khawar Qureshi who faced off against Harish Salve on Monday when both argued their respective countries’ position on the Jadhav death penalty matter. State-run news agency Associated Press of Pakistan further reported Aziz saying that Qureshi had courageously represented Pakistan at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ on Thursday allowed India’s petition that Pakistan be directed not to execute Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was handed a death sentence by a Pakistani military court in April this year. The ICJ, accepting India’s plea, said Pakistan must not hang Jadhav until the court hears the matter in full and that Islamabad must inform the World Court of the steps it has taken to ensure that the Indian national is not executed. Responding to the ICJ order, Aziz, Pakistan’s de facto foreign minister, was reported to have said, “Pakistan’s security is so important and we have to maintain our fundamental sovereign right.” Rediff.com : 19th. May,17